Once, when I was pastoring, a woman I knew in our church made an appointment to see me. On the day of our appointment, my secretary led her back to my office. She didn’t say anything as she walked through the door and sat down. The woman looked directly at me and said, “I hate you!” Reflexively, unprepared words shot out of my mouth wrapped in a smile, “No you don’t.”
When the “No you don’t” words were spoken it was like her plan for the day crumbled. At this point, a slight smile came to her face. I wasn’t playing her game. I’d seen this happen several times over 35 years when pastoring different churches and while ministering overseas. The woman then began to unload a whole series of offenses against her from pastors and fellow believers. She attached her pain to me as someone who represented those who had hurt her in the past. We spent the rest of the appointment unpacking her pain. When she left my office she gave me a hug.
Like you, I am far from perfect. Catch me on a bad day and the scenario in my office might have turned out differently. What I have come to realize over the years is that if we are in tune with God and there is no unconfessed sin in our lives, typically the first words we sense rising in our hearts are the ones God has assigned to speak. Our problem is that we can suppress those first words thinking, “Is this from God? It was too easy.”
We can hinder a move of God in a church or a nation, or a significant breakthrough in a person’s life when we try to over-evaluate what we think we just heard the Lord speak. I’m guessing many of the prophets in both the Old and New Testaments may have asked of the Lord something like, Come again, Lord?” when they were given a prophetic assignment.
The next time you hear something in your spirit that you sense is from the Lord unless He attaches timing for its delivery, simply speak what you heard and leave what follows to the Lord. Each day we walk by hundreds of potential miracles that require the spark of a word from the Lord. The whispers of God when spoken in obedience have the potential to bring deliverance and freedom if we are willing to speak and not remain silent.
Thank you Garris for bringing such words that keep with The apostle Paul who said “stay with the simplicity of the gospel.” Sometimes we complicate things too much…simply walking in our identity, fellowshipping in the word with God & worshiping is enough to keep us in tune with the Holy Spirit:)
Under the leadership of Rev Robert Rufener and a dear sister and prayer pastor Socorro Barajas, I learned so much about how to hear and trust Holy Spirit.
As a result, I speak those prompted words with courage and openness believing they are meant for encouragement from Our loving good good Father to a child who needs what we deliver.